


Mors Carissima

by Daerwyn



Category: Infernal Devices - Cassandra Clare, Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 16:45:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/725552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daerwyn/pseuds/Daerwyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fateful decision must be made - to live or to die? One must live, the other must die. One must swear an oath, and the other must let them go. </p><p>Based on a theory my friend, Cecilia, has about the Mortal Instrument's Brother Zachariah.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mors Carissima

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the Mortal Instruments or the Infernal Devices. They are the sole property of Cassandra Clare.

The powder box was grasped tightly in Tessa Gray's hands. She desperately didn't want to drop it. She dropped it.... She couldn't bear to think of the consequences. Her pink taffetta gown ruffled with each step she took, though Tessa made no move to be quiet. Everyone was all gone. All but Jem and Will. And they wished to do an experiment, ordering her to retrieve Jem's box. Will had, that is. Jem had offered to get it himself, but before she had time to assure him she could do it, Will had taken over.

She knocked once on the library door, before puling it open. Jem and Will were still in their same seats, the fireplace blazing beside them in the cold winter, and the wheezing of Jem very noticeable in the silence. "I've got it," Tessa said quietly. Both of the young men snapped their gaze to look towards her, and she set the box on the table between them. "Are you alright, Jem? You don't sound too well."

"Fine, now," he told his young fiancee. She knew there was a tension between the young men after the engagement had been announced. Tessa shuffled back a step before she sat besides Will on the couch, the only available seat. "What we need to do, I believe, is to wean my doses."

"Will it work?" Tessa asked, leaning forward. "I don't want you to become more ill because of this-"

"It should work," Will interrupted. "Now, how much did you take last time?"

"Nearly a full spoon," Jem answered. He sighed quietly, as though he had aged years in the past few moments. "They have tried this before, weaning me of the drug, but it has never worked. I have always lapsed back into hysteria."

"And that is where I come in," Will announced simply. "Being the dashing young lad I am, and your desire to not be coddled, I will be in charge of your medicine. Should you demand a dose, I shall refuse. Should you-"

"We get the point, Will," Tessa interrupted carefully. She gazed at the box before looking up to Jem. "Are you sure this will be okay? I don't want you to get worse with a silly notion of mine-"

"No," he assured her. "We will try it. If it gets worse, we will abandon the idea."

"Agreed," Will backed up his _parabatai_. "Now, I believe that we should begin with now. Afterall, the idea of delaying this would be silly, wouldn't it?"

"Quite," Jem agreed dryly, as though that wasn't what he thought at all. She felt along the edges of the seat beneath her, her nails digging into the fabric as Jem opened the box carefully. He hesitated a moment, glancing up at Tessa. "I truly wish for you not to see this."

She didn't mind seeing it. She had wanted to see how he was as soon as he took the drug. Did he seem to energize immediately? Or did it take time? "You know I think nothing less of you for it," she said kindly. "We all have moments we deem weak, when really, to others they're viewed as strengths."

"And this is my strength then?" Jem asked as he poured a silver spoonful of the drug into a cool glass of water resting on the table beside it. "I've rather come to think of you as my strength, Tessa."

Will snorted. "Are we completely ignorant to the fact that I'm in the room, now?" he asked. He leaned back in his seat, his blue eyes blazing with the thought of somehow being overlooked. His usual arrogant smirk was twisting his lips as he gazed at his _parabatai_. "Just by gazing upon my stunning physique, James becomes an entirely new person in strength."

"That's what that is?" Jem inquired. "I rather thought it was the deepest urge to strangle you." His thin fingers stopped stiring the silvery contents into the glass and it seemed as though nothing was in it at all except for clear water. He set the spoon down and then closed the yin fen box. His teasing light in his eyes quickly disipated as he lifted the glass and sipped it all down in one go. Even Will had gotten silent, staring at the glass with an expressionless mask. Tessa leaned forward in interest when the glass was empty and watched as Jem's eyes opened. Silver, entirely.

"What does it taste like?" she asked quietly.

He glanced at her, surprised. He had color in his cheeks, though she didn't know if that was from the fire or not, and he was a little more alive than before. She couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips show. "Tessa..." He looked pained and glanced at the box. "It is very addicting-"

"I didn't mean to taste it," she insisted, shaking her head. "I only mean to ask because... I wonder if it's pleasant or if it tastes horrible. If it tastes horrible, I find it hard to imagine that you particularly like tasting it."

"It's very sweet," he allowed. "Almost too sweet. And it has a certain... consistancy to it that's... well, it's almost like this candy I used to have as a child."

She was about to say something when Will shot forward and grabbed the silver yin fen box. "And now, we await until tomorrow." He swept from the room, causing Tessa to look startled at his sudden disappearance.

"Would you like to go to the drawing room?" Jem asked suddenly. "There's something I'd like to show you."

"Of course," Tesssa found herself saying. She rose as he did, and he cast a look at the empty glass of water, almost that of loathing, before offering her his arm. She took it, her arm feeling the heat of his own as her hand pressed against the crook of his elbow. "What is it you have to show me?"

 


End file.
